We've Got Training To Do
by Like.A.Jade
Summary: Jade (my OC) is the Bronze Ninja of Light, Water, and Wind. 'Nuff said.
1. Chapter 1

The ashes from the remains of my house cling to my eyes. I blink and continue my search.

Suddenly, I trip and fall. When I see what I trip over I give a sharp intake of breath. It's a skull, with bits of flesh still clining to it. I look closer. Years of artistic and forensic science training tell me this is a woman's skull. I blink hard, and the skull becomes a face. Blonde hair, brown eyes, freckles... This is my mother. I let tears fall, and then I spot another skull. A male. My father. The small tears from the ashes turn to the fat tears from my discovery of my mother turn to sobs.

I hear a crunch in the ashes behind me. I sit up straight and turn around.

An old man, a friend of my grandmother's, stands in the ashes of my former home. I nod once in recognition.

"Mr. Wu," I say.

"Jade," Mr. Wu, as I have known him all my life, has been much like a grandfather to me. His long hair and beard give him a look of wisdom, but I know inside is a sassy and possibly a little immature man. There's wisdom in there too, a lot of it, but I've always known him as the great friend who has known my family since my mom was pregnant with me.

Mr. Wu extends his hand. On instinct, I take it, and he helps me up. He envelops me in a hug, and I cry silently into the most comforting shoulder in all of Ninjago.

"I must train you to be a Ninja," he says. I look at him, startled.

"But I thought the Ninjas all had to be boys," I say.

"Some rules are meant to be broken," Mr. Wu, or Sensei Wu as I should call him now, says. I stare at him for a moment, then nod.

Giving my parents a final goodbye, I follow my new teacher into a new world of adventure.

(Zane's POV)

I dive into the freezing water, determined to beat my time of ten minutes and thirty six seconds. I open my eyes, and almost gasp at the sight that greets me.

Good thing I'm smart.

An elderly man with a long white beard sits under the water. I burst out, and he does as well, only much more gracefully.

"Who are you?" I ask him.

"My name is Sensei Wu," he tells me.

"Sensei? As in teacher?" I ask. He nods. "And you're following me - why?"

"You have the Ice inside. I must train you to be a Ninja," he replies.

Seems real.

(Jay's POV)

I take several deep breaths and jump off the building.

Okay, that made me sound suicidal. On the contrary, I was testing my new invention. I was almost (being 72%) sure I had worked out all the kinks. Apparently not. I fly about ten feet and then fall onto another building.

Some old guy is sitting there.

"Uh, hi," I say.

"Hello," he says brightly. "Ever thought of being a Ninja?" I raise an eyebrow in what I hope is a skeptical expression.

"Okay, I need to clear something up first. Do you have a white van?" I ask. He scrunches his eyebrows in a puzzled expression.

"No. Why do you ask?" he asks.

"No reason," I say quickly. "So what's this about being a Ninja?"

(Cole's POV)

I grin broadly at the tall mountain in front of me. Easy. I feel a tap on my shoulder, and I turn to see my best friend, Colette.

"Do you ever wear a shirt?" she asks. I grin at her.

"Why? Do you find this distracting?" I counter. She rolls her dark green eyes and grins. She tosses her silky black hair over her shoulder and takes my hand.

"Come on, Cole. Race you to the top!" She lets go of my hand and races to the mountain. I sprint after her and start climbing.

About halfway up the mountain, I'm really surprised to see an old man sitting there. Colette soon catches up to me.

"Umm, Cole, aren't we supposed to be racing?" she inquires. She runs up to me, and then sees the old man. "Oh. What's he doing here, I wonder?"

"I have come to find the fourth Ninja. You," he says, pointing at... well, one of us.

"Uh, which one?" I ask.

"I think he means you," Colette whispers. I'm quick to retort.

"Oh. There's an old guy who says he's after a ninja. Seems legit."

"Oh, it is, how you say, legit," the old man says.

"Oh. Okay," I say. I take a step forward, but Colette grabs my hand again.

"Will I see you again?" she asks. The old man turns to give us some privacy, I'm guessing. I give her a quick kiss on the forehead.

"I don't know. But I'll write," I reassure her.

"And I'll stay faithful," she says.

"That's not necessary," I tell her quickly. Then I realize something. "Hey, aren't you lesbian?" She giggles.

"Kidding."


	2. Chapter 2

Sensei Wu found me first, then Zane, then Jay, then Cole. We still haven't found the last ninja.

Zane was an employee for a shop a little ways away from the monastery. Every morning, even if it was snowing, he would go underwater and just sit there. He almost never came up for air. He was really surprised when he saw Sensei Wu under the water with him. Zane has straight blonde hair that sticks straight up, and grey eyes. I know he's the Ninja of Ice, but he doesn't know it yet.

Sensei found Jay when he fell onto a building. Apparently, he was testing his invention. He's kind of stupid and is always making these dumb jokes. He's the Ninja of Lightning, goodness help us all. His weapons are nunchaku. He has brown hair and blue eyes.

Cole was climbing a mountain (with his shirt off) when Sensei found him. He has good fighting potential. He's the Ninja of Earth. He's buff. I am not even kidding. And those eyes... They're enough to make a girl crazy. Not me, though. I prefer brown eyes to green. Cole's hair is black and sort of long. His weapon is a creepy- looking scythe.

I suppose I have to tell you about myself now. My name is Jade. Sensei Wu found me at the ruins of my house, sobbing over my parents dead and burnt bodies. My little brother is yet to be found, but when I do, I will either bury him in the center of Ninjago City or train him to be a Samurai, since he can't be a Ninja. I have blonde hair that falls to my knees and clear blue eyes. I have heard so many dumb eye- related pickup lines from Jay that if he says one more, I will slap him with his own nunchaku!

I know we are close to finding the last ninja. Sensei Wu says he works in a shop near Jamanicai Village.

I stare out the window in the only single bedroom in the monastery. "Hey, do you have a map? I just got lost in your eyes," a voice says behind me.

"You've already used that one, Jay," I say without turning. I can't see him, but I know he's rolling his eyes.

"Seriously? Have I? Hmm..." Jay says. I grin and turn around. Jay is just standing there like an idiot.

"Maybe when you gain a few I. Q. points, I'll go on a date with you," I say. I kiss him lightly on the cheek and exit my room. I head toward the empty dragon stables and sit in the stall that will someday hold my dragon. I've painted all the stall doors in a different color. Mine is painted a shiny bronze color. The door next to mine on the left is red and the door on the right is blue. The order from left to right is this: black, red, bronze, blue, white.

After a few minutes, I decide to paint the doors some more. I pick up some silver paint and start painting Jay's door with a lightning pattern. I paint a rock on Cole's door and a sun, water droplet, and swirl on mine. With gold paint, I paint a snowflake on Zane's door and an insignia on the red one. I know the last ninja will be the red Ninja of FIre.

I return to the monastery, where Sensei Wu is waiting for me.

"Jade, I need your help to recruit the new Ninja. His name is Kai." he says.

"Sure, Sensei. What do you need me to do?" I say.

"Just charm him if he gets difficult." I grin. Charming is what I do best.

~0~0~0~

I look at the shop sign, the Five Weapons. Its logo is a sword and a scythe crossed over a pair of knives and nunchaku in a diamond. In the middle is a shruikan. Sensei goes in first. I hang out by the entrance. The boy who must be Kai has crazy brown hair and warm brown eyes.

Sensei says something about self pride, and then makes a comment about how all the stuff in the shop is samurai, and there was no ninja stuff.

"You're not gonna find any ninjas around here, old man. And the shop is called 'Five Weapons,' not 'For Browsing,' so either but something or go peddle your insults somewhere else!" Kai says in a disrespectful tone.

Sensei harrumphs in disgust. "Too bad. I thought I'd find something special here." He turns and leaves. This is my cue. I enter nonchalantly. Kai blinks several times when I enter. My eye immediately focuses on a bronze knife with an emerald on the hilt. I walk towards it unintentionally and pick it up. "This is amazing! How did you- " I break off when I see his eyebrow raised.

"What? A ninja has to know where her weapons come from!" I say defensively. I put the knife down. Kai's eyebrows are still raised.

"You're a ninja? I thought they were all supposed to be guys." he says. I narrow my eyes slightly.

"Well, that's a little sexist." Kai's friend says. She has short black hair and eyes like Kai's.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that. Sorry." he adds to me. I roll my eyes.

"It's fine. I get that a lot. We're recruiting, by the way, if you're interested." I add.

The girl smiles. "I think it sounds kind of exciting! We should try, Kai. I'm Nya, by the way. What's your name?"

"Jade."

A darkness is falling outside. That's odd. It's three in the afternoon.

Sensei Wu rushes back in. "Jade, the Skeleton Army is here!" Crap! I forgot my weapons at the monastery!

"May I borrow some of these?" I say, gesturing at some of the knives. Kai nods. "Thanks!" I run out of the shop.

The Skeletons are closing in on the shop. Why here of all places? I throw a knife perfectly at a Skeleton, slicing off its head. Kai rushes out to my side with a sword.

"What are you doing? You're insane! These things are indestructible!" I say, hitting one in the ribs with the flat of my borrowed blade.

"I'm protecting my shop!" Kai says angrily, cutting off another Skeleton's head. It bounces on the ground near his foot. "Ow!" He looks down.

"Bite this!" he shouts, kicking it. It soars high over the shop. Some Skeletons clap, but they are knocked aside by Nya.

"I thought I told you to stay back." Kai tells her.

"And what? Let you have all the fun?" she retorts, hitting a Skeleton with her bamboo pole.

The shop sign falls off. Two Skeletons exit with something. I curse under my breath, running after them. I throw a knife, but to no avail. I miss.

I turn and spot the leader, Samukai, confronting Kai. Samukai attacks with all four knives. Kai is losing. I run forward to help, but-

"Ninja, go!" A golden tornado runs into Samukai, cutting off his attack. He and the tornado, who I know now as Sensei Wu, spin out of the way.

"Sensei Wu. Your Spinjitzu looks rusty." Samukai taunts.

"Nothing like bone to sharpen edge, Samukai," Sensei retorts.

Samukai throws his knives, but misses Sensei. Instead he hits the water mill. It falls, going for Kai. I run forward to save him, but I seem to morph into a tornado like Sensei's. I spin into Kai, pushing him out of the way. I get out of my tornado, landing on Kai. We just lay there awkwardly for a minute.

Samukai returns to his bone truck. "Lord Garmadon says, 'Take the girl,'" he says. Which one?

A skeleton hand cannon thingy launches from the truck. It encases around Nya, who is dragged into the truck.

"Nya!" Kai shouts. The Skeletons laugh and drive away.

"They took Nya." Well, thank you, Captain Obvious.

"I told you." Sensei says, tapping Kai's helmet with his staff. "Useless." Kai shouts and turns around.

"You could have done something! You could have used your Twistitsu, or your- your- "

"Spinjitzu!" I correct.

"But you did nothing." Kai says threateningly. "I'm gonna get my sister back." Oh, Nya's his sister. That makes a lot of sense.

"Where they go, a mortal cannot. That was Samukai, king of the Underworld. And if it's true he's taking instructions from Lord Garmadon, things may be worse than I have thought."

"Lord Garmadon? Underworld? What do we have that's so important? And why would they take my sister?"

"What's so important? How about everything in Ninjago itself?"

Sensei goes on to explain about the Golden Weapons, how they came to be, and why what the Skeletons took was so important.

"The older brother was Lord Garmadon, and I need to find those weapons before he does." Sensei finishes.

"You're the younger brother? Did you come here looking for the map?" Kai asks. I answer this time.

"We came here for something much more important. You."

"Since my brother cannot enter this realm, it is obvious he has made a deal with Samukai. If he were to collect all five weapons, even I would not be able to defeat him again. But you, you have the Fire inside. I will train you to harness it, use it, to become a Spinjitzu master." Sensei says.

"Look, I'm flattered you think I'm all that, but I have to save my sister. I'm not going to get involved in your sibling rivalry." Kai gets up to leave, but Sensei does this awesome flip to stop him.

"If you want to get your sister back, you need to harness the fire within. Only when you become a Spinjitzu master will you be able to face Lord Garmadon."

~0~0~0~

I think it would be easier to train Kai if he stopped flirting with me. Every day, he failed because he kept flirting instead of training. He was supposed to finish the training course before Sensei finished his tea, which took about thirty seconds.

It was three weeks before he did it in time. I gave him a hug when he finished, then he did something totally unexpected, yet totally predictable.

He kissed me.


	3. Chapter 3

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

"They took my sister!" Kai shouted.

"Look, you need to get your act together so you can actually become a Ninja." Jade said. She walked out, her long blond ponytail swinging.

"I feel like I can do anything!" Kai shouted. "I can- I can-" He finally gave up on words and kissed Jade. Jay found the two. His jaw dropped, along with his cookie. He ran out, then came back for the cookie, then ran out again.

~0~0~0~

It wasn't my idea to attack Kai while he was brushing his teeth.

Jay caught us kissing this afternoon, and he was JEALOUS. He spread a nasty little rumor that Kai was a Skeleton in disguise. I can't believe either of them fell for that. I wonder if I'm the only smart one.

I didn't take part in the attack, it was just Cole, Zane, and Jay. I watch as Kai beats their asses. He uses an awesome strategy of turning on the training course to move them out of the way, but they end up dog piling him, until Sensei told them to stop. Of course, Cole blamed it on Jay.

"Why would you do something like that?" Sensei asked. Jay bit his lip.

"Ummm... jealous of the new arrival?" Wow. He can do much better than that.

Sensei turned into a tornado again and went around the semicircle. The ninjas' black uniforms turn into ones of every color, corresponding to the dragon stable doors. Sensei gave them each small introductions.

"Kai, master of Fire."

"Jay, the blue Ninja, master of Lightning."

"That's not all I'm the master of. I do a little inventing, modeling, cooking, some poetry-" Jay brags before Cole cut him off.

"More like mouth of lightning." Cole says.

"Cole, solid as a rock, master of Earth." Cole grins at Kai.

"Nice to meet you, kid. I got your back. And for the record, there ain't nothing in this world I'm afraid of."

"Except for dragons." Zane says. Cole's smile falters slightly.

"Dragons aren't from this world, Zane. I said in this world." Sensei continues his intros.

"White ninja is Zane, seer of the sixth sense." Zane does some fancy tricks with his shruikans.

"I sense he takes this a little too seriously." Kai says to me. I laugh quietly. Some of you may call it a giggle. I try not to think of it that way.

"You possess the gift too?" Zane asks.

Jay rolls his eyes. "He was making a joke, Zane. Remember what we talked about? Your sense of humor?"

"Oh. I see. Ha ha." Jay slaps his forehead.

"Jade, bronze ninja of Light, Water, and Air." I blush. I really don't like it when people compliment me. It makes me feel awkward.

"You five are the Chosen Ones. You will protect the Golden Weapons from Lord Garmadon."

"But what about my sister?" Kai says.

"And my brother?" I put in.

"Ooh! We're saving a girl? Is she hot?" Jay says, suddenly interested.

"Jay!" Cole scolds.

"I just want to know what we're getting into. Does she like blue?" Jay adds to Kai.

"Back off!" Kai says.

"When we find the Weapons, we will find your siblings." Sensei says. "It is time. We must go to the first Weapon."

"Wait, you said you were going to teach us Spinjitzu!" Cole protests.

"Spinjitzu is inside each of you, but it will only be unlocked when the key is ready to be found." Sensei says. "Come! My feet are tired. We will take the forest carriage."

"Great. Now we have to find a key, too?" Jay says.

"It kind of feels like he's taking us for a ride." Cole says.

"Well, if it means finding my sister, then sign me up." Kai says.

~0~0~0~

Oh, my goodness. This is so embarrassing. We are pulling a cart with Sensei in it. Jay keeps pestering Kai about it.

"'Sign me up.' Way to go, Spark Plug."

"I sense this is some form of team building." Zane pants.

"Well, keep pulling. We've got a long way to go." Cole replies.

While we run, Kai tries to keep the conversation going.

"So, where did Sensei find you four?" he asks. We tell him.

"I was testing my limits." Cole says.

"I was testing my new invention." Jay says.

"I was testing myself." Zane says.

"I was looking for my brother." I say. Which isn't true. I was actually sobbing over my parents' corpses. But none of them can contradict me because they weren't there.

"And you still haven't found him?" Kai asks rudely. I turn around to face him.

"Why don't you just shut your face before I have to blind you?" I say.

Sensei tells us to stop the cart. We leave it where it is and follow him to a ledge.

"The Caves of Despair." Sensei tells us. "Samukai must be close to unearthing the Scythe of Quakes. Remember, do not use the Weapon, or it-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's too powerful for us mortals. Cole, you got the plan?" Jay interrupts.

"Sure do. First, we lower ourselves down the ledge. And then- where's Kai?" Cole says. We look down and there he is, flipping around like an idiotic monkey.

"All right, let's go before he gets himself killed. I would hate to have to replace him." I say, and we all head down. We find a crate to hide under and use it to travel almost unseen. Twice, we almost get caught, but we manage to get down in time. One guard spots Kai, but we stop him from alarming the others.

We soon spot Samukai with the map and move after him quickly. We join Kai on the roof of the watch tower where he's located. There is a small hole in the top. "The map!" Jay whispers. Kai bops him on the head. "Keep quiet!" he whispers.

Zane ties a rope to a shruikan and uses it to get the map from right under Samukai's nose. Does he even have one?

Kai looks at the map. "There's no time to waste." he says.

"What is with that guy! Always in a rush!" Jay whispers. We join Kai in the mine. He is struggling to move a giant rock.

"Hey, before you race off again, you need to remember. We're a team." Cole says to Kai.

"Yeah, whatever." Kai says. We push on the rock to reveal the Scythe of Quakes.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Jay shouts. The sound echoes down the cave.

"Keep it down!" Cole reprimands.

"Quit being so paranoid, Cole. We're at the other side of the caves." Cole rolls his eyes and gets the Scythe out of the mouth of the dragon statue. We walk out of the cave- right into Samukai. And the rest of the Skeletons.

They raise their various weapons. We do as well.

"Whoa, guys! It's just like the training course! Over the planks, dodge the swords, here comes the dummy!" He morphs into an electric blue tornado.

"Spinjitzu! This is what Sensei must have meant when he said we already know it!" I say.

"Over the planks, dodge the swords, here comes the dummy!" I morph into a bronze tornado like the one I used the night I helped recruit Kai. The rest of the Ninjas turn into tornadoes as well. Inside, I can see just fine, but my vision is tinged bronze.

"I sense they do not stand a chance!" Zane says.

"Retreat!" Samukai shouts. The Skeletons run from the cave. We stop spinning, but Cole stops the wrong way.

"Uh, guys? That isn't a dragon, is it?" We turn around.

"It sure looks like a dragon." I say.

"I sense we won't be able to spin our way out of this one." Zane says.

The dragon spits brownish fire at us. We scatter and go behind a rock. Kai looks at the Scythe in his hands.

"No, Kai, Sensei told us not to!" Jay shouts.

"Then you'd better keep your mouth shut!" Kai says as he slams the Scythe into the ground. Cracks appear in the ground, spreading out from the Weapon.

The dragon roars as a rock falls on his head. A crack appears in the ceiling.

"How do we get out?" Jay asks. I look at the crack in the ceiling. Cole seems to voice the same idea I get.

"We use Spinjitzu!" he says. We morph into tornadoes.

The base of my tornado catches on a rock. I hear sickening crack and my ankle explodes with pain. I spin out of control, slam into the wall, and then crumble to the floor. I can't get up.

"Kai!" I cry. He stops spinning and looks back at me.

"Jade!" He runs back and tries to help me up. When I put pressure on my ankle, I cry out in pain.

"It's no use. Just go, I'll be fine," I try to say, but Kai won't hear it. He picks me up bridal style and runs with me to the ledge below the opening in the roof. Cole lowers his normal scythe and uses it to help us onto the roof of the cave. Immediately, the Ninjas start asking questions. They swarm around my head until I can't think straight.

"Enough! This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't used the Scythe!" Sensei said.

"He did it." Jay said, pointing to Kai.

"I had no choice. Didn't you see the size of that dragon?"

Sensei ignores him and teaches me how to heal using Light. I hang on to every word, knowing it will help me in the future.

~0~0~0~

Later, I have an odd dream. I am viewing a purplish room, where Samukai is standing on a platform made of bone. He looks worried.

"Master, I have failed you. They have learned Spinjitzu." he says.

"Good." another voice says. "Then my brother was there."

"If I gather my army, we can ambush them at the-"

"No. Let them think they're winning." the same voice says.

"I do not understand." Samukai says.

"Let them collect four of the Golden Weapons. Then, when they try to retrieve the fifth, we will strike."

Samukai hesitated before answering. "Yes, Lord Garmadon."

I woke with a start. I could only fathom two things from the dream.

We are in terrible danger. Lord Garmadon is rising.


	4. Chapter 4

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

Three ninjas in black uniforms attacked Kai in the bathroom. He fought back, getting them out of the bathroom and onto the training course.

"These are your teammates." Sensei Wu said.

"Where's Kai?" Cole asked. Jade pointed him out to the others, and there he is, running around the Skeleton camp.

"Whoa! This is so cool!" Jay shouted. He walked out of the cavern, right into the Skeletons.

A dragon chased the Ninjas, now in uniforms of different colors (although Cole is still black). They turn into tornadoes, and the bronze one we all know to have Jade in it catches on a rock, causing her to break her ankle. "Kai!" she shouted.

"Jade!" He ran back over to her, scooped her up, and ran out of the swiftly crumbling cave.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't used the Scythe!" Sensei shouted.

~0~0~0~

I haven't told anyone about the dream.

"I spy something... white." Jay's game of I Spy has been uneventful for the past two hours.

"Could you try to be quiet for once? This ain't easy." Cole told him. Jay is about to make a retort, but is interrupted by the rocking of the boat.

"I spy something broken!" Jay says.

"If Sensei knows where the next Golden Weapon is, why isn't he steering the ship?" Kai asks.

"Sensei's wisdom is far above my own." Zane tells him.

"The most powerful move in Spinjitzu can only be unlocked when all five Elements are combined." Sensei says randomly. "Earth, Fire, Light, Ice, Lightning, Water, and Air."

"What happens when all of them are combined?" Jay asks.

"The Tornado of Creation. The ability to create something out of nothing." Sensei answers before the ship rocks dangerously.

"Wasn't me!" Cole calls.

"We're here." Sensei says. (Cue dramatic music!)

~0~0~0~

The Caves of Ice are filled with ice encased skeletons. Not ghost ones, but normal ones.

"Looks like someone's already been here." Kai says. Thank you, Captain Obvious!

We reach another dragon statue not unlike the one in the Caves of Despair, only white and blue instead of brown and red. The shruikans are suspended in midair below it.

Zane jumps up and retrieves them, but he freezes. The dragon comes to life just as the other one. We pick up Zane and run out of the caves, screaming as the dragon chases us. We run into the wall and Zane breaks out of his ice thing.

At least I didn't break my ankle this time.

Next, Sensei takes us to the location of the Nunchucks of Lightning. They are located at the top of a super tall tower. The Skeletons are following us. Jay grabs the Nunchucks and another dragon appears, bright blue. We jump off the tower and use fake wings, inventions of Jay's, to fall slowly.

I hear Samukai laugh as we go down.

Next we find the Knives of Light, Water, and Air. All in one Weapon. I wonder how it all didn't come crashing. The dragon is pure bronze, and the Knives were located in a cave that was deep underground and filled with natural light. These are my favorites because they are destined to be mine. The dragon makes no attempt to stop us. In fact, it nudges me with its snout as we go out.

Only the Sword of Fire to go. We camp out in the woods where it is located. I fall asleep quickly, only to have more disturbing dreams.

~0~0~0~

"Nya! Wait up!" I hear Kai say. I wake up immediately. I see Kai following Nya somewhere. I pull on my mask and follow them, knowing this can't be good.

"Slow down! Why are you running so fast?" I hear. I increase my own speed.

"Nya! Where are you?"

"Kai!" I call. He turns around.

"Jade, why are you here? This could be dangerous." he tells me.

"'Danger' is my middle name." I say. We follow Nya to a palace looking thing on a volcano.

Nya seems to have disappeared. In her place is the Sword of Fire. Then she reappears in front of it.

"Nya!" we shout in unison.

"I'm right here."

The voice isn't Nya's. Her form has been replaced by a shadow with glowing red eyes.

"Garmadon." Thanks again, Captain Obvious. "You can't hurt us! You're banished, trapped in the Underworld!" Really, the question I want to ask is why he states the obvious.

"Which is precisely why you will retrieve the Sword of Fire for me."

"I don't think so!"

"Are you sure about that?" Garmadon asks. Nya appears above and behind the Sword.

"Kai! Jade!" she shouts.

"Nya!"

"If you don't free the sword, how else will you cut the chains to free your sister? Or your brother?" My little brother, Sammy, appears next to Nya.

"Sammy!" I shout.

"Jadie! Help me!" Sammy shouts.

The chains that bind them fall a foot or two.

Kai seems to be concentrating on something. He opens his eyes and leaps toward the Sword. He cuts down both of our younger siblings and we use Spinjitzu to rescue them before they fall.

"Stay close." Kai warns them.

"I think I speak for both of us when I say we're not going anywhere." Nya says. Sammy nods.

A shadow rises up behind Kai.

"Look out!" Nya shouts. Kai turns and encounters something weird.

Would you believe me if I told you Kai was attacked by his shadow?

One shadow changes into several, and while he's busy, he tells me to take Sammy back to camp.

"What about you?" I shout.

He doesn't answer.

I pick up Sammy and put him on my back. I grab Nya's hand and take them out of the Temple of Fire, leaving Kai.

As we run to camp, a bone truck zips past us, with Cole, Zane, and Jay on its trail.

"They have the Weapons!" Jay shouts. We race after the truck, but it disappears, leaving us with the truth.

We've lost.

~0~0~0~

My dreams are just as disturbing as my others that night. Sensei stands in a cavern, with the Sword of Fire in his hands. I watch as he enters a palace made out of bones. There is the all to familiar laugh of Lord Garmadon, and the dream fades.


	5. Chapter 5

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

The Ninjas went to different places with different dragons to find the Golden Weapons. They started a camp near the Temple of Fire, where the Sword of Fire is located.

"Nya! Wait up!" Kai shouted. Jade woke up and ran after Kai and his sister.

"Kai!" she shouted.

"Jade, go back. This could be dangerous." Kai told her.

"'Danger' is my middle name." Jade said.

The form of Nya transformed into a large shadow with red eyes: Lord Garmadon.

"Go! I'll be fine!" Kai shouted as he fought his own shadow. Jade grabbed Sammy's hands and ran back to camp, where a battle was being fought.

"They have the Golden Weapons!" Jay shouted.

~0~0~0~

The Ninjas and I go to the Temple of Fire. Sammy is again on my back and playing with my hair. I couldn't leave him alone. The Skeletons might come back for him.

"I sense loss." Zane says. "The Elemental Weapons have left this realm and are now in the Underworld."

"Great. The one place a mortal cannot go." I say grumpily.

"We might not be able to go there." Kai's voice says. The door of the Temple opens. "But a dragon can." Cole squeaks and hides behind a pillar.

"Our father used to tell us stories about the dragons." Nya says, hopping off the large red beast. "They were kind creatures who belonged to both worlds, and they were buried in between."

"Are you insane?!" Cole says, peeking from behind his pillar.

"Once he realized we trying to protect the Sword of Fire, he became quite a softie." Kai says, petting the dragon's snout. "I think I'll call him Flame."

"Wow, that's creative." I say, rolling my eyes. "If I had a dragon, I'd name it Ultraviolet, or UV for short."

Jay makes an odd croaking sound. "He cannot talk at the moment, but he wants to know if you like blue." Zane tells Nya.

"It's my favorite color." Nya says. Her face turns grim when she turns to Kai. "This is goodbye, isn't it?" Kai nods. "But only for now." he says quickly. Nya nods sadly.

"Come back in one piece, okay? I'd hate to run the shop without you." she says jokingly. Everyone jumps onto Flame, but Cole stays behind his pillar.

"You guys go on ahead, okay? I'll stay here and watch over the little siblings. Besides, I don't think we can fit onto that thing." Cole says, ruffling Sammy's hair. Sammy swats his hand away.

"You're right, Cole." Kai says, winking at me. "But I have a way to fix that."

"I don't like the sound of that." Cole says.

~0~0~0~

A few hours later, we are all seated on various dragons corresponding to our powers. I named my dragon Ultraviolet.

"This is awesome!" Kai yells.

"How do these things cross into the Underworld?" Cole shouts.

"I think we're about to find out!" I answer. The dragons dive into the clouds.

"Hold on!" someone screams, most likely Captain Obvious. Our dragons spiral into the earth. After going through a tunnel of earth, we tumble off onto... Wait for it...

"Solid ground! We made it!" Kai says. And there's Captain Obvious again.

We peer at a small building a few decimeters away. "Sensei is inside." Zane whispers.

We jump onto the stalactites over our heads. (I think they're stalactites?) We cross to thin ones almost directly over the building. Jay starts screaming almost silently.

"Can I be the first to say it's been a delight since Jay lost his voice?" Cole says. I laugh, then look up, at the same time the rest of the ninjas do. Spiders with both fangs and pincers look down on us. We yell and let go.

"Is the plural for ninjas ninjas or ninja?" One Skeleton asks another when we fall.

"Ninja, I think." he says.

"Alright, then, NINJA!" The first one says. We stand to fight.

"Okay, there are ten boneheads for every one of us." Cole mutters to himself. "I think I like these odds." Then the spiders join the fun.

"Anyone got any bright ideas?" Kai asks. Jay waves his hands in front of Kai's face and grunts something intangible.

"You feel a weird sensation?" Cole guesses. Jay shakes his head and repeats the sounds.

"You ate a strange crustation?" Zane says. Jay repeats his response. The idea slowly dawns on me.

"I got it! Two bananas on vacation." Kai says.

Jay seems to get his voice back. "The Tornado of Creation!" he shouts.

"Good to have you back." Zane tells him.

"But it could lead to disastrous consequences!" Cole says.

"We're about to have a disastrous consequence." Kai says.

"Let's do this!" I shout. We spin into our tornadoes, then turn into one big tornado. We spin across the small bridge and spin out. What lies before us is... A Ferris wheel? The boys dart down the stairs. I stare at the ride for a bit, shake my head, and follow them.

I come down in time to see Sensei Wu move the Sword of Fire under Samukai's chin. I start forward, but Kai holds me back.

"This is Sensei's fight." he whispers. I nod silently.

The fight goes on for several minutes before Samukai manages to get Sensei down. Samukai takes the Sword and then faces Garmadon, who has just been sitting there eating... popcorn? Garmadon puts whatever he's been holding away.

"Give me the Weapons." he orders. I shiver. His voice is much creepier in person. Samukai looks at the Weapons in his five hands.

"No. You take orders from me now." he says foolishly.

Lorrd Garmadon laughs. Goodness, he's creepy. The Weapons glow in Samukai's hands, pulling them away from his body.

"You fool! Did you think I did not plan on your betrayal? No one, not even I can handle all five Weapons at once. Now that they are combined, they will create a portal, allowing me to escape from this ghastly place."

"Uh-oh." Samukai mutters. He disappears. The Weapons clatter to the ground and a spiral of white and blue energy appears. Garmadon laughs again and starts toward the portal.

"Father would not want you to do this, brother." Sensei calls. Garmadon turns.

"Father is no longer here! There had always been a balance between good and evil. But where I go, the balance can be destroyed. Soon, I will be strong enough to possess all five Weapons. I can recreate the world in my image!" Lord Garmadon turns toward the vortex again, only to turn back again.

"You were always his favorite." Garmadon enters the vortex. It blinks and fades.

The ninjas and I come down the steps to retrieve the Weapons.

"He is gone," Sensei Wu says, "but he will return."

"And we'll be ready for him." Kai says.

"We should keep an eye out in case he has any more plans." Cole says. I agree.

~0~0~0~

We ride UV, Flame, Rocky (Cole's dragon), Shard (Zane's dragon), and Whisp (Jay's dragon) to the Five Weapons. Before I land, I see Nya run out to greet Kai.

"My turn!" Jay shouts after she gives Kai a hug. Nya laughs and gives him a hug, too.

"I'm so glad you're back!" Nya says. Kai's face turns grim.

"For now. It's not over. Lord Garmadon will return." he tells her.

"But we'll be ready for him." I say.

"Yeah!" we shout. Then we make the awful mistake of high-fiving each other with our Weapons. There is a puff of smoke and we all are blown back.

"Okay, we better know not to do that again." Kai says. This time, I don't call him Captain Obvious.

"Agreed." Cole says.

"Let's just stick to high-fives." Jay says. We laugh, except Zane.

"Was that a... joke?" he asks. Our laughs turn to groans.

"Come on, guys." I say, inconspicuously grabbing Kai's hand. "We've got a rough few years ahead of us."


	6. Chapter 6

Long before time had a name, the first Spinjitzu Master forged five Golden Elemental Weapons: the Knives of Light, Water, and Wind; the Sword of Fire; the Nunchucks of Lightning; the Shurikans of Ice; and the Scythe of Quakes.

A dark force sought to take these Weapons for himself. So, Sensei Wu and his five students, Jade, Kai, Jay, Zane, and Cole, found them all and are now protecting them.

~0~0~0~

The noise of the boys' video game almost shook the entire monestary. I am sitting behind them, reading a book.

The game switches off.

"Aww, man!" Cole complains.

"Why on earth would you do that? Why?" Jay says whiningly. It appears Sensei has turned off the game.

"Just because Lord Garmadon escaped through a vortex, doesn't mean he won't come back for the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu!" Sensei says.

"He's right, guys. We should be training." I say, almost always the voice of reason in the group.

"But since Lord Garmadon left, Ninjago has had nothing but peace." Zane says.

"Peace is boring!" Jay complains. "There's no one to save, there's nothing to do."

"We can train tomorrow." Cole says.

"Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." Sensei says.

"Well, I was going to eat this pizza tomorrow, but if that's the case-" Cole begins to eat the pizza, but Sensei knocks it out of his hand.

"No pizza for you!"

"Um, remember when we did something yesterday called the Tornado of Creation? I thought that was pretty insane!" Kai says.

"You five have merely scratched the surface of your full potential. There are still many secrets to unlock. You haven't even begun to tap in to what powers your Weapons have to hold." Sensei says.

"You wanna talk secret powers, check this out!" Cole says. He uses the Scythe of Quakes to plug the game back in. Sensei sighs.

"Don't worry, Sensei. When Garmadon returns, we'll be ready." I say.

Nya runs in. "Guys- Lord Garmadon- he's returned! He was spotted near Jamanicai Village." she says. The boys scramble around for their weapons.

"Can I come?" Sammy asks.

"Sorry, kiddo, it isn't your time." I tell him. I give him a quick kiss on the top of his head. "Wish us luck!" I shout as I leave.

We run to the dragon stables. Cole and Jay try to jump on their dragons, but Cole drops the Scythe and Jay falls off.

We fly out on our dragons. We swoop down near the village.

People run, scream, and duck/cover. A creepy laugh rises toward our left. It sounds familiar. I clutch my Knives tighter.

"Stay sharp, fellas. Whatever happens, don't let you guard down." Kai says.

The laugh becomes more high- pitched. A boy comes out of the alleyway. "I am Lloyd Garmadon! I demand all the candy in town! Or else!"

"Lloyd Garmadon? I thought we were facing Lord Garmadon!" Jay says.

"It's his son." Cole says. Jay groans.

"And to think we could have been doing Spinjitzu by now!" I complain.

Lloyd looks around. "Give me your candy or I will unleash the Serpentine on you!" The people of Jamanacai Village boo and someone throws a pepper. Lloyd produces a tin can and opens it, releasing a bunch of rubber snakes.

More people throw vegetables. "No, wait!" Lloyd shouts. "I asked for candy, not vegetables! I hate vegetables!"

"He's going to have to do better than using an old bedtime story to scare people." Kai says, picking up a rubber snake.

"The Serpentine are real, Kai. They are not something to joke about." Zane tells him.

"Oh, come on!" Kai says, flinging the toy back at Lloyd. "We're talking about the ancient race of snakes who supposedly ruled Ninjago and were locked underground?"

"Locked in five separate tombs to separate the warring tribes and to keep them from unifying and reigning terror on those who put them there!" Jay says, scared.

"Oh, come on, it was an old wive's tale to teach kids not to stick our noses where they don't belong!" Kai argues. "Don't you find it a little suspicious that no one has ever found one of their tombs?" He looks at me for help.

"I'll have to agree with the ninjas on this one, Kai. You'd be an idiot to look for one of the tombs." I say. Cole goes over to Lloyd and heaves him over his shoulder like a sack of flour. Lloyd fights, but Cole is strong.

"Go on, people, nothing to see here." I say.

"What should we do with him?" Jay asks. "Spank him?"

"I have a better idea." Kai says, smiling.

After a couple minutes, Lloyd hangs by his T-shirt from a shop window. "You just made me your nemesis!" he shouts.

Zane goes up to a candy counter and buys some for all of us.

"Next time, kid, try paying for your candy." I say, grinning. Lloyd shouts more threats at us.

~0~0~0~

We return to our dragons. When Kai climbs up onto Flame, a scroll falls out of the saddle bag. Zane picks it up.

"I don't remember putting that in there." Kai says.

"That's Sensei's bag. You must have grabbed in the rush." Zane says.

"What is it?" Jay asks. I jump off UV to have a look.

"It's a scroll, windbag." Kai says.

"I know that, but what does it say?" Jay retorts.

"I don't know, it's written in chicken scratch."

"That's not chicken scratch. That is the ancient language of our ancestors." Zane says.

"Can you read it?" I ask.

"I do not know, but I can try." Zane says. After a slight pause, he says, "One ninja will rise above the others and... become... the Green Ninja."

"Ooh, look, a picture!" Jay says excitedly. The picture consists of five small ninjas and one large one. I stare at the bronze one. It has long eyelashes and I can see whisps of blond hair under the hood.

"Are any of you thinking what I'm thinking?" Kai says.

"Like how awesome I'm gonna look in that Green Ninja outfit?" Jay says.

"Are you kidding? It's obviously me!" Kai argues.

"Uh, the color obviously suits me!" Jay shoots back.

"Technically, I am the best." Zane says calmly.

"Guys, stop! We weren't meant to see this, and probably for good reason." Cole says, taking the scroll. "Come on, let's go home. We've got training to do."

~0~0~0~

On the way back, I am approached by a mysterious magnetic field that snaps my eyelids closed. The same force makes me move my head so that it's leaning against my dragon, and it commands me to sleep.

At least, that's what my excuse is.

My dream consists of Lloyd climbing up a snowy mountain, kicking a rock as he goes. He mutters to himself as he climbs.

He kicks the rock hard, and it clangs against something metal. A lever. Naturally, he pulls it. A trapdoor beneath him opens, and Lloyd falls in, landing face first on some ice.

"You are out of your mind, little one, for venturing so far from home." A voice emerges from the shadows. "Look in my eyes, give up your mind. I will control you." The owner of the voice is a blue General Serpentine.

He advances toward Lloyd, and Lloyd ducks. The snake sways as though hypnotized. That's what this Serpentine must be: a Hypnobrai. Lloyd stands up and looks at the Hypnobrai.

"No. I will control you." Lloyd says.

"What shall you have us do?" The Hypnobrai General asks, bowing.

"Us?" Lloyd looks around. More Hypnobrai emerge from the shadows. Lloyd smiles. "My own army of snakes!"

~0~0~0~

"JADE!"

My head snaps off of Ultraviolet.

"I wasn't asleep, I encountered a very bossy magnetic force." I mutter, embarrassed out of my mind. Kai helps me off my dragon.

"The rest of the Ninjas have decided to have a tournament to see who's gonna be the Green Ninja." Kai tells me.

"That's crazy!" I say. "They could hurt themselves!"

"So you're not joining?"

"No way!" I find Nya and we head back to Jamanicai Village for a girl's hour out. I decide to change into a metallic bronze tank top and skinny jeans beforehand, though.

We head to the fruit cart first, since we're running low on that. Then we hear the screaming. I reach for my Golden Weapons and get them ready.

"Take the candy! Take it all!" Oh, gosh. Lloyd again!? I thought we had dealt with him already!

But I am not fully prepared for the Hypnobrai. I had thought the dream was just that. I take out my phone as Nya and I crouch behind a well. I dial Kai's number.

"Hey, Jade, is everything all right at the village?" Huh. I guess they already know.

"Yeah, it's fine, we're just being attacked by giant snakes with legs!" I yell, my voice edging into hysteria.

"Calm down, we're coming." Kai says. "Huh? Oh. Jay says hi."

"Hi to you too, Jay. Now would you get your asses over here?!" Nya pokes me hard in the side. I shoot a glare at her.

"We're almost there." Kai says, hanging up.

"Hurry." I say into the empty phone.

I see dragons on their way to the village! I scramble up, and then I am immediately approached by the General Hypnobrai. My Knives glow in my hands.

The General's eyes start to swirl, and I immediately look away. I search the pocket of my jeans and find a compact mirror. Smiling to myself, I turn it on the General.

"You are now under my command." I say triumphantly. But he doesn't sway like in my dream with Lloyd.

"Seize them!" I hear Lloyd shout. Them?

"The Serpentine? They're real?" Kai shouts.

"And it's not just them we have to worry about!" I say, catching up to them. "The whole village has been hypnotized!"

Jay starts swinging his Nunchucks of Lightning, but Zane grabs his arm. "No! Our weapons are too unstable. We could do more harm than good!"

"Well, then, I guess that leaves us with RUN!" Jay shouts. We break away from the hypnotized villagers and the Serpentine.

We crouch behind an old wagon. "Nya! You're okay!" Jay says upon seeing her.

"Barely! The entire village has been hypnotized!" Nya tells us.

"Yeah, we noticed." Cole says.

"When you hear their tails rattle, don't look in their eyes. That's how they get you." Nya says.

"This is just great. We can't use our Golden Weapons, and now we gotta fight with our eyes closed?" Jay whines.

"Not necessarily." Nya says. "The snake with the staff, that's the General. The staff holds the anti-venom for the hypnotization. If we can get the staff, we can heal the entire town."

"Okay, guys, let's just forget about the whole Green Ninja thing. We're a team." Kai says.

"Now you're talking!" Cole shouts.

"And Nya, you can be our honorary member." Jay says.

"Gee. Thanks." Nya says.

We jump over the rooftops, landing in various places.

"Consider this a warning, Ninjas!" Lloyd shouts. Zane throws his Shruikans of Ice under the wheels of Lloyd's cart, which tips over, spilling all the candy.

"Sensei was right." Zane says.

"Never put off until tomorrow what can be done today." I finish.

"We should have dealt with you the first time around." Zane says.

"Retreat!" Lloyd shouts. The General echoes him.

Cole fights the General. He grabs the staff, and another snake confronts him.

"Cole!" Nya shouts. She comes to his rescue.

"You have the staff!" Huh. Apparently the Captain Obvious runs in the family. "Quick! Put it in the fountain!" Cole does so.

The anti-venom spreads out like fog. The Serpentine retreat, taking Lloyd with them.

Sensei Wu enters the village, riding on UV. Kai takes the staff from the fountain and gives it to him.

"We're sorry, Sensei. If we had dealt with Lloyd before he became a problem, none of this would have happened." Cole says.

"Even lessons learned the hard way are lessons learned." Sensei tells him.

"Then help us learn them the easy way." Kai says. "Teach us the secrets behind the Golden Weapons."

"There is much to teach." Sensei says. "Come. We must return to the monastery."

When he says that, I realize something. "Hold on a minute here! Did you leave Sammy alone!?"

He doesn't answer.


	7. Chapter 7

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

"The Serpentine have returned!" Sensei Wu shouted.

"I will control you from now on." Lloyd told the General of the Hypnobrai triumphantly.

"Let's just forget about the whole Green Ninja thing for now. We're a team!" Kai said, holding out his hand palm down. The rest of the ninjas put their hands on top of his.

"Ninja, go!" they shouted.

~0~0~0~

Wow. I can't believe the guys are making this much noise when it's not a video game. They're actually training for once. But Zane... He's not really into it right now. He does random things at the most random times. Like right now, so far he's caused Jay to hit himself in the face with his Nunchucks, stolen Cole's Scythe and used it to dismember a training dummy, used Spinjitzu to encase the entire training area in ice, also causing Kai to fall on his face, and one of his Shruikans almost cut off my head!

"This roof isn't big enough for the five of us." Kai says, getting up.

"Correction. This roof isn't big enough for him." Cole says, gesturing at Zane.

"It's like he's in his own little world." Jay says.

"I bet he can't even hear us." I say loudly.

Sensei Wu joins us. "Sensei, Zane's... weird." Kai tells him.

"What is weird? Someone who is different, or someone who is different than you?" Sensei asks.

"No, he's weird weird." Cole says.

"We like the guy, he's really smart and everything, he's just... a little off sometimes." I add quickly.

"Zane is a brother, and brothers are often different." Sensei says. "I should know." The door gong sounds. "Mail's here!" Cole, Kai, and Jay shout in unison.

"Let's see... Here's a letter from Jay's parents, Kai has a fan letter, something from Cole's father, and Jade has a package from her grandmother." the mailman says.

"What, no package for me?" Cole asks. "I was expecting something from Creatures, Pets, and Beyond."

"Nope... Oh, here we go!" The mailman hands Cole a package.

"Rocky's gonna love this!" He heads off to the dragon stables.

I sit down on one of the pieces of training equipment and open my package. Inside is something wrapped in tissue paper and a note. I read the note.

"Dear Jade,

It may not be your birthday when you get this, but inside is something you can add to your collection. I bought it from a shop called Five Weapons about a month ago. Use it wisely, and not to shut Jay up.

Signed,

Grammy."

I grin at the last part and open the gift. A beautiful bronze dagger, with a sapphire at the hilt! Almost exactly like the one I was admiring the day I first met Kai. "Hey, what's today's date?" I ask no one in particular.

"September 25th." Jay tells me.

"Oh, cool, it's my birthday!" I say.

"How old are you now?" Kai asks.

"Eighteen." I answer.

"We should go on a date tonight to celebrate." Kai whispers in my ear.

"But it's Zane's night to cook!" I whisper back.

"Okay, then how about a movie this afternoon?"

"Sounds good to me." I say.

We go see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, a movie about some guy who gets forced into participating in the Wizard Tournament, or something like that. I couldn't really concentrate, because Kai was less than a foot away and our hands kept touching in the popcorn bucket. We decided to leave near the end, because neither of us knew what the hell was going on.

We returned to the monastery just in time for dinner.

"I love it when it's Zane's night to cook!" Jay says.

"Hey, I didn't hear any complaints about my duck chowder last night!" Cole says.

"That's because it glued our mouths shut." Kai says.

"Did you really think Jay was speechless all through dinner?" I ask.

"Yeah, please don't make that again." Jay says.

"Dinner is served." Zane comes out of the kitchen wearing my flowery pink baking apron. Don't judge me, my grandma gave it to me. We all start laughing.

"What's so funny?" Zane asks.

"Zane, you're wearing my baking apron!" I tell him, breathless from the laughter.

"You laugh because I take steps to ensure I am clean while cooking?"

"We laugh because you're wearing that ridiculous thing!" Kai says.

"I guess we do not share the same sense of humor." Zane says.

"Well, how 'bout this!" Cole says, taking a pie and smashing it in Kai's face. "How could you not find that funny?"

Sensei dumps a bowl of pudding on Cole's head. "Now you are brothers." A massive food fight breaks out, with finger foods flying every where. Zane leaves, looking sad.

~0~0~0~

We get an early start the next morning, following Zane through the forest.

"How do you think Zane knows where he's going?" Kai shouts.

"Beats me!" I shout.

"How is it you stumbled on Lloyd's secret headquarters?" Kai asks Zane.

"I followed a bird." Zane says concisely.

"And why did you follow a bird?" Cole asks.

"Because it danced." Makes sense to me.

We follow Zane to a treehouse. "Woah, Frosty was right!" Kai says. "We gotta destroy that thing before it becomes operational."

"But it looks like a pretty cool treehouse!" Jay protests. "There's a rope course, and a tree swing-"

"Hey, remember whose team you're on!" Cole scolds.

"All right, guys. What do we do?" I ask.

"It looks like the entire thing is supported by those three trees." Kai says, pointing out three trees. "Once we sever those ties, the whole thing will come down like a house of cards."

"But why would one make a house of cards?" Zane inquires. "Such construction would be careless."

"Travel in shadows, boys." Cole says. I clear my throat. "Oh, and Jade."

The ninjas and I go to the three trees. I sever one tie, Jay severs another, and then Cole is just about to when his eyes go red and swirly. Shit, he's under their control!

"No one leaves until they deal with me!" (Cue dramatic music!)

"Cole, what's gotten into you?" Kai shouts.

"Isn't it obvious? He's been hypnotized!" I say.

"I guess that makes sense." Kai says. That's my line.

Jay zaps Cole with a tendril of lightning. I look at Cole to see if it shocked him out of his trance. Cole stands, his eyes redder than ever. Didn't work, just made him mad!

Cole grabs me by the front of my uniform. He's about to toss me off the falling treehouse when I hear a mystic flutey sound. Cole blinks and his eyes go green.

"Jade? What's going on?" he asks.

"Well, you got hypnotized by a Serpentine and right about now, you're about to throw me off a building." I say.

"Sorry." Sensei Wu, Nya, Jay, Kai, and Zane fly next to us on Flame. "We must hurry! Only Sammy is guarding the monastery!" Sensei says.

"The kid's only eleven!" I shout. "He shouldn't be left alone!"

~0~0~0~

I smell the smoke before I see the fire. As soon as we're in range, I jump off Flame in the middle of the fire that used to be the monastery.

"Sammy!" I call, but I know he's not gonna answer. Because he's gone. Again.

The others join me. "The training equipment. Gone." Zane says.

"The video games! Gone!" Jay shouts.

"Sammy... gone." I say.

"This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't followed that stupid bird!" Cole shouts at Zane.

"Cole!" I scold.

"No, Jade, he's right!" Jay shouts, pushing past me to get in Zane's face. "Thanks to you, my high score has been deleted!"

"That's enough!" Sensei shouts. "Zane is your brother! Apologize at once!"

The boys turn around. "We're sorry- Where'd Zane go?" I look around and spot Shard flying away.

"Zane, come back!" I shout. I start running to Ultraviolet.

"No, Jade, stay here!" Kai shouts. I stop in my tracks and turn around.

"Kai, Zane is like a brother to me. And I've already lost one today. I'm not about to lose another." I say calmly.

"Jade, it's no use. He's not coming back, no matter what you say." Kai tells me.

~0~0~0~

I sit at the campfire, my knees hugged to my chest. Why I didn't run away to look for Zane and Sammy last night is beyond me. I'm such an idiot sometimes.

"I miss Zane." Jay says randomly.

"Zane?" Nya asks, looking up.

"Yeah, you know, the white ninja? The smart, strange one?"

"No!" Nya points to the horizon. "Zane!" We all look toward where she's pointing.

"ZANE!" I run to him fastest and give him the biggest hug possible.

"We're so sorry about everything we said. We're a team." Kai says.

"You don't need to apologize." Zane says.

"But what about all the nasty things we said? Isn't that why you left?" I ask.

"Of course not. I saw the falcon again." Zane tells us. That's our Zane. "Come with me. I think you will all be pleased."

We follow Zane into the desert, to an old ship right in the middle of it. "I don't quite understand it, but I feel a strange connection to the falcon. I think he's trying to keep us on the right path." Zane says.

"Do I smell pie?" Jay asks.

"I made several types. I supposed you would be hungry-" But the ninjas aren't listening. They take off to the ship, including Nya. I stay back with Sensei and Zane.

"You're a great guy, Zane. I promise, we will find your family." I say.

"I already have." Zane says. I kiss him on the forehead. "I will help you find your brother. I do feel partially responsible to his capturing."

"Thank you, but he'll be okay. I wouldn't be surprised if he has already escaped." I say.

"And if he hasn't?"

"He's a big, tough kid. He'll find a way. Come on, or else there won't be any pie left." I say, starting toward the ship. Sensei and Zane run ahead.

"Are you a ninja?" I hear a young boy voice ask. I turn to the question. The asker is Lloyd Garmadon.

"I think you know that answer." I say.

"I need your help. Actually, no. Your little brother needs your help." Lloyd says. I bite my lip. Can I really trust this kid?

"Okay. Take me to Sammy." I say.


	8. Chapter 8

Previously on We've Got Training To Do.

"Whoa, Frosty was right!" Kai said, pointing at a large treehouse. "We need to destroy that thing before it becomes fully operational."

"No one leaves until they go through me!" Cole shouted, his eyes red and swirly. A flutey sound reached his ears.

"What happened?" he asked when his eyes returned to their normal green.

Jade jumped off Flame into the large fire. "They took Sammy." she said.

"Zane! Come back!" she shouted.

"I promise, we will find your family." Jade told Zane. He and Sensei Wu ran toward an abandoned ship in the desert.

"I need your help. Actually, no. Sammy needs your help. Follow me." Lloyd told Jade. She bit her lip.

"Okay. Take me to Sammy." she said.

~0~0~0~

Lloyd leads me to the mountain I saw in my dream. "This is where the Hypnobrai are. I can't go in, I've been banished." he says.

"I wonder why?" I say sarcastically.

"They got a new general who doesn't like me." Lloyd says. Oh. "Should I tell the ninjas where you are, so they won't get worried?"

"No, that's okay. I'll be fine, and they know it. I'm actually the best in the group." I say. I step into the giant slide, landing in a cage made out of ice!

"What the Underworld?!" I shout. The sound reverberates around the ice. I pull out my Knives of LWW and set the little dials to Light. I use them as sort of torch, lighting the dark cavern.

Lloyd slides down the massive pit, a ginormous grin on his face. "Skales! I got the girl ninja you wanted!" he shouts. "Now let him go!"

"You tricked me!" I shout.

"What did you expect? I'm the evil son of the super evil Lord Garmadon!" Lloyd says.

A large blue Serpentine slithers out of the shadows. "Exssellent job, little one. Here isss your little friend." He thrusts my little brother at Lloyd.

"Sammy!" I shout, rattling the bars of the cage.

"Jade!" He runs up to the cage.

"Sammy, there isn't much time. Go find the ninjas and get help. They're in an old ship in the desert." I whisper. He nods and runs out of the cavern.

"What do you want, Skales?" I demand.

"You will find the anssswer to that tomorrow." Skales slithers back into his shadows.

I start hacking at the ice with my Knives. I get all the way through a bar and the entire thing comes crashing down. I blast some air upward to muffle the sound. I leap out of the rubble and run after Sammy and Lloyd. Someone needs to look after them.

I find them soon enough, going down the mountain. "Lloyd, you turd, you tricked me!" I call.

Sammy turns around. "Jade, you escaped!" he says.

"Gee, you think?" I say, running forward and giving him a hug. "How 'bout we find the ninjas, huh?"

"No! We can't!" Lloyd shouts.

"Well, Sammy and I are going. Right, Sammy?" I say. He hesitates.

"I want to stay with Lloyd."

~0~0~0~ (Kai's POV)

"Has anyone seen Jade?" I ask.

"I haven't seen her for a few days." Cole says, flipping a pancake. Jay comes in the kitchen.

"Those are normal, right?" he asks, pointing at the pancakes.

"Yes, they're my mom's recipe." Cole says.

"Guys, back to more important things! Where is Jade?" I say.

"Why?" Jay asks. "You wanna-"

"Just don't even go there, Jay. He will kill you." Nya says, getting a plate from the cupboard.

"Maybe we should go around, see if we can find her." Zane says.

"Your dad fixed the thing that makes this fly, right?" Nya asks Jay.

"I'm positive he did." Jay says.

"You better be." Nya says. She goes to the engine room. I can feel Destiny's Bounty moving. Maybe this isn't a good idea. But the sooner we find Jade, the better.

~0~0~0~ (Jade's POV)

I sing to myself as I walk through the desert. On My Own, from Lés Miserablès, with a few tweaks here and there to better match my situation. I've been lost for days, and I can't find that fucking ship!

On my own, pretending he's beside me

All alone, I walk with him 'til morning

Without him, I feel his arms around me

And when I lose my way I close my eyes and he has found me.

In the rain, the pavement shines like silver

All the lights are misty in the river

In the darkness, the trees are full of starlight

And all I see is him and me forever and forever.

And I know it's only in my mind

That I'm talking to myself, and not to him

And although, I know that he is blind

Still I say there's a way for us.

I love him, but when the night is over

He is gone, the river's just a river

Without him, the world around me changes

The trees are bare and everywhere the streets are full of strangers

I love him, but everyday I'm learning

All my life, I've only been pretending

Without me, his world will go on turning

A world that's full of happiness that I have never known.

I love him

I love him

I love him, but only on my own." I end the song with a semi-high note and sit down on a sand dune.

"Why ssso sssad, young misss?" I look up to see a large purple Serpentine.

"And you are?" I ask. The snake, who is obviously an Anachondrai, bows. "I am Pythor, lassst and General of the Anachondrai."

"And I am Jade, most lost and loneliest of the ninjas." I say. Pythor sits on another sand dune.

"I couldn't help but recognizsse the sssong you were sssinging-" he begins.

"Shit, was that out loud? I'm so sorry, I really need to stop doing that, I have a terrible voice." I say.

"In my opinion, you sssound very much like Éponine. As I was sssaying, I recognizsse that sssong. Who isss it you misss?" Pythor asks.

"Gosh, where do I begin?" I wonder aloud. "My parents, they died in a fire, my, um, best friend who happens to be a boy, my other friends, my teacher, my little brother..." I trail off, only now realizing how much I've lost.

"Isss your little brother a young blonde boy, with green eyesss and numerousss frecklesss?"

"Yes, that's right." I say, surprised.

"He isss with the ninjasss, who I'm guesssing are the other friendsss you ssspoke of."

"Really?" I ask. "And what about Lloyd?"

"He hasss become allied with the ninjasss." Pythor says.

"Oh, god, I need to find them!" I say, jumping from my sand dune.

"They have been flying around Ninjago for daysss, sssearching for you." I make sure I still have my Golden Weapons (I don't quite trust this snake) and take off into the desert.

~0~0~0~ (Kai's POV)

I look over the side of the Bounty, searching for any glint of bronze. Nya brings the ship lower to the ground. I see a glimmer of both bronze and gold - a good sign. I transform my Golden Weapon into the Bladecycle (Yes, that's what I named my fancy bike. Deal with it) and ride toward the glimmer.

"Kai?!" Thank god, a familiar voice!

"Jade!" I shout, jumping off the Bladecycle and running toward her. "Thank god you're okay! Sammy and Lloyd told us what happened with the Hypnobrai." I give her a massive hug.

"Choking, not breathing!" Jade says. I let go. "Oh my god, Kai, I'm so sorry. I should have said- I should have told you what happened."

"It's fine, Jade." She throws her arms around my neck and buries her face in my chest. I lift up her face and kiss her gently. It's not like our last kiss, which was just a victory kiss. This is real.

"My turn!" I hear Jay shout. Jade breaks away and looks at me, shocked. She smiles, and then Jay is hugging the day lights out of her. Cole and Zane join in for a group hug. After about a minute, Jade does a bit of Spinjitzu to get us off her. Jay, Cole, Zane, and I go flying in different directions.

"So, what did I miss?" Jade asks.

"Lloyd released the Fangpyres and an Anachondrai, Jay's parents talk a lot, Jay's dad fixed the Bounty so it can fly, Lloyd is on our side now, Sensei made us solve a riddle to figure out the best way to defeat an enemy-"

"Easy. Make them your friend." Jade says.

"-and our Golden Weapons can turn into vehicles." I finish.

"That would have been useful information." Jade says, triggering a bunch of laughter. She takes out her Knives of Light, Water, and Wind and does some fancy tricks with them. This causes a bright flash of bronze light, and Jade sits in a shiny bronze helicopter. "Sweet!" she shouts.


	9. Chapter 9

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

"Skales! I got the girl ninja you wanted!" Lloyd shouted.

"Lloyd, you turd, you tricked me!" Jade shouted as she ran down the snowy mountain.

"I am Pythor, lassst and General of the Anachondrai." Pythor said, bowing.

"And I am Jade, most lost and loneliest of all the ninjas." Jade said.

"Jade!" Kai shouted. He ran to her and kissed her on the lips.

~0~0~0~

(Jade's POV)

"KAI!"

"COLE!"

"JAY!"

"ZANE!"

"JADE!"

Kai broke my keyboard. I might have feelings for him, but Lloyd just told me Kai broke my keyboard. I am going to strangle that little red booger. Who gives a fuck about some prophecy? Sammy can take his place.

I confront him about it in the boys' bunk room. "My mom gave me that keyboard! It was her last gift to me! Now, it's broken. I'm not going to be able to replace it, because it won't be the same." Zane throws a Shurikan at me, but I dodge it. It lodges in the wall.

"What the fuck is your problem?" I demand.

"My problem is that you turned my gi pink!" he shouts.

"It's a universal law, okay? You don't touch a man's robot!" Jay shouts from behind Zane.

"Hey Jay, you know how long it took me to make that soup?" Cole asks. "Three fucking days! Three days! And now, it's ruined."

"Well, you didn't have to rub it in my face that you're oh-so-talented, Cole. You could've left the high score alone." Kai says. A giant argument breaks out. Then I realize something.

"GUYS!" I shout. They stop fighting. "Lloyd told you that I turned your gi pink, right?" I ask Zane. He nods. "And Lloyd told you that Zane broke your robot, right, Jay?" I ask. He nods, too. "And Lloyd told you, Cole, that Jay ruined your soup, and that Cole beat your high score, Kai, and that Kai broke my keyboard?" They all nod. I make a propeller motion with my hands. They still look confused. I sigh in frustration.

"Am I the only smart one?!" I shout. "Lloyd made that all up to turn us against each other! Can't you see that?!"

"Oh. Should we tell Sensei?" Cole asks.

"Whatever. But I have an instruction manual to find." I say.

Lloyd walks past as I go out. Something sticks out of his pocket. I grab it and go back to me and Nya's room without him noticing.

"Whatcha got there?" Nya asks as I come in.

"I think it's Sensei's lesson book. I should return it before he plans a ridiculous lesson." I say. I take the lesson book to Sensei's study.

"Sensei, is this yours?" I ask him. He turns around.

"Yes, it is. Where did you find it?" he asks.

"In Lloyd's pocket." I say concisely. I leave when I hear an alarm sound.

I meet up with the others at the bridge, where Nya has some darts on a map of Ninjago. Three darts, one at every Serpentine tomb.

"What's this?" I ask.

"These are the three locations of the Serpentine tombs that we know of." Nya explains. "After a while of ruminating on why the tombs were placed in these precise locations, I found a pattern." She switches on a flashlight and a squiggly line appears on the map. "All three tombs are in line with the Ninjago symbol for 'serpent.'"

"So the last two tombs must be here-" I throw a dart at the map- "-and here." Another dart.

"There's no time to lose!" Sensei says. "Kai and Jay, you go to the Venomari tomb. Cole, Zane, and Jade, you three take the Constrictai tomb. And take this, in case you run into Pythor." He hands Zane a flute. We all nod and run out.

Zane looks gloomily at the pink gi in his hand. "Do you want to trade?" he asks me.

"How am I going to strike fear in that?" I ask. "It's pink." I run after the others.

Minutes later, Cole Zane, and I stop our vehicles at the Mountain of A Million Steps.

"This is as far as our vehicles will go. The rest of the way, we go on foot." Cole says.

"Um, my vehicle can fly, and it seats eight." I say.

"Right. Kinda forgot you were there for a second." Cole says. I transform my Knives into a helicopter again and we climb inside. I take us to the top.

There is a big hole in the top of the mountain, like the one at the Hypnobrai tomb. A rope is tied to a rock and trails down into the hole.

"It seems Pythor was already here." Zane says. "Perhaps we should investigate."

"Way ahead of you, Pinkie." I say.

"Don't call me that." Zane says.

"Too late." I slide down the rope. When I get to the bottom, I take out my knives again and use them like flashlights.

"Huh. Didn't mama snake ever tell him not to draw on the wall?" Cole says.

"Your attempt at humor fails." I say in my best Zane voice.

"That was actually pretty good." Cole says.

"Thanks." I'm aware of him standing really close to me.

"Did you feel that?" he asks suddenly.

"Feel what?" Zane asks.

"There's something in the ground." Cole says, stepping on the ground carefully as he steps away from me.

"Don't move." Zane advises.

"Really? I never would have thought of it myself." I say sarcastically. A large snake bursts out of the ground, wrapping his tail around me.

"I've been waiting for you." he says. "Pythor sssendsss hisss regardsss."

"Did you stay behind just to tell us that? Pathetic!" Zane says, taking out his Shurikans.

"Look who'sss calling who pathetic, Pinkie."

"Hey, only we can call him Pinkie!" Cole protests. He slams his Scythe into the ground. The Constrictai General disappears into the ground.

"Guys! Go for the rope!" Cole tells us. We do so.

I hear a crunch of rocks, and then Cole is sucked into the ground. "Cole?" He bursts out of the ground like a firecracker.

"The flute! Play the fucking flute!" I shout. Zane throws it at him, and he starts playing. The Constrictai bursts out of the ground, covering his ears. He starts strangling Cole with his tail. Cole drops the flute, which rolls at Zane. Zane plays the flute.

The Constrictai grabs Zane by the throat, and he starts choking. I grab the flute and start playing it. The Constrictai drops my friends.

"Wrap your head around this!" Cole shouts, hitting the snake with his Scythe.

"Good one." Zane pants.

"Thanks. But if he was expecting us, I think Kai and Jay are walking into a trap." Cole says.

Kai!

~0~0~0~

"We need to hurry!" I shout over the wind.

"Jade, we're almost there. Calm down." Zane shouts. I see the Toxic Bogs ahead. I increase speed, and transform my bronze helicopter into weapons just as I fly over the Venomari tomb.

"Anyone order a little kick butt?" I shout as I land. The last word echoes down the cavern, causing lots of laughter.

"Boo!" Pythor jumps out of nowhere, and Jay screams. Zane raises the flute to his lips and plays the first note, but Pythor yanks it out of his hands. "Let'sss not have musssic ruin things, shall we?" he says. On a split second decision I know won't work, I sing the song everyone always plays, making my voice sound like a flute. I feel a quick, sharp pain on the side of my head, and I black out.

~0~0~0~ (Cole's POV)

Pythor hits Jade on the head with the flute, then catches her limp body with his tail before she falls. His little army of snakes press the rest of us onto a log, which starts dissolving quickly in the acid of the bogs.

"Okay, I used to hate dragons. Now, I hate snakes." I say, really pissed off at the fact that the girl I like has been knocked out cold, and there's nothing I can do about it.

Yes. I like Jade. Get over your shock.

"Look! A magic floating rope! We can climb it to safety!" Kai says, but Jay keeps him back.

"Boy, that Venomari venom is some powerful stuff." he remarks.

"Whatever it is worth, it was an honor fighting alongside you three." Zane says.

"You said it." I agree.

"Ditto." Jay says. Then a rope really does appear.

"The magic rope!" Kai says.

"Quick! Everyone climb on!" I shout. We use the rope to swing back onto solid land.

A large robot comes out of the trees and shoots a net at the Serpentine, capturing several. The rest retreat, and Pythor slithers away, Jade still wrapped in his tail.

"Santa?" Kai asks.

"Thank you, mysterious warrior." Zane says, bowing formally. "I owe you my li-" The warrior dude shoots blue gas at us, causing us to black out.

~0~0~0~ (Jade's POV)

The first thing I notice when I wake up: I have a massive headache.

Next: I'm in a cage.

Third: I'm underground.

Fourth: Pythor and Skales are talking about making me queen of the Serpentine. Why they would do that, I have no idea.

All I know is that I need to get out.

I spot my friends near the back of the chamber. Kai catches my eye and winks. They think I actually need help. How cute.

Pythor stands up on a subway train car and starts delivering a speech. When he's done, Kai shouts from behind the Hypnobrai, "That sounds like a great plan, but you know the Hypnobrai will screw it up."

"Those Fangpyres can bite my rear end!" Cole says.

"I bet the Venomari drink their own venom!" Jay shouts.

"All that digging must have given the Constrictai dirt for brains!" Zane says. I try to contain my laughter at the last one.

I spot Cole, Kai, Jay, and even Zane being sucked into the ground. "Were the ninjas taken care of?" I hear Skales ask the Constrictai General.

"All of them." he confirms. He opens a closet door, and I see all of the ninjas tied up in there.

"Jade! Hel-" Kai begins, but a Venomari snake kicks him to shut him up. Using the anger that comes with this, I use Spinjitzu to burst out of the cave and put myself between the ninjas and the Serpentine.

"No one touches them." I snarl. I use my golden knives to cut them free. Zane uses his Shurikans to freeze the entire chamber, then turns his Shurikans into the Icemobile.

"Quick! Get on!" he shouts. Of course, Cole gets on first (I always suspected he had a thing for Zane), and the rest of us follow.

Zane takes us away from the pandemonium and to the Bounty. I grin when I see the old airship.

"It's good to be home." I say.


	10. Chapter 10

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

"We need to find the other Serpentine Tombs before Pythor does!" Jade shouted.

Cole stood really close to Jade as they observed the writing on the walls.

"Pythor sends his regards." the Constrictai General said, with Jade wrapped in his tail.

"Anyone order a little kick butt?" Jade shouted as she landed in the Toxic Bogs.

Jade sang like a flute to try and make the Serpentine weaker. It worked until Pythor hit her on the head with a flute.

A large robotic warrior shot blue gas at the boy ninjas, causing them to black out.

"No one touches them." Jade snarled.

~0~0~0~

"What's that?" Jay asks as Sensei comes in the dining room with a huge package.

"It's your new uniforms." Sensei says.

"New clothes? Sweet!" I say, immediately coming around to see. Sensei hands me my box. I open it and take out the various articles of clothing. A strapless bronze dress, a silver turtleneck with a bronze and silver hood, bronze leggings, and silver boots.

I look at the boy's uniforms. They're simple enough, a shirt and pants and boots, with gold and silver highlights. Kai's is red and gold, Cole's is black and silver, Zane's is white and gold, and Jay's is blue and silver.

"How come mine has so many pieces? How am I gonna get this on?" I ask. Sensei points to a picture at the bottom of the box, obviously what the full uniform looks like.

I go in me and Nya's room to try it on. First, I put on the turtleneck and leggings, then I pull on the dress, then lace up the boots. I pile my hair on top of my head in a messy bun and pull on my hood. Just in time, too. An alarm goes off, signaling Serpentine trouble. I run to join the others at the bridge. They're already in their new uniforms.

"Serpentine at Mega Monster Amusement Park." Kai fills me in. I nod.

"I love a good old fashioned roller coaster, but nothin' beats this!" Cole shouts. He jumps off the side of the Bounty, changing his Scythe into a tank-like vehicle. The rest of us follow his lead, most likely because we're idiots like that.

We change our vehicles into weapons in time to land on a building near the amusement park. A cluster of people are in the middle, screaming. I run over and take a look. "Huh?" A bunch of Serpentine are tied up here!

"What just happened?" I ask an old friend of Nya's, Chelsea.

"Jade! You totally missed it! There were these icky snakes, and this mysterious Samurai came in and saved everyone!" Chelsea says.

"He was, like, so hot!" Chelsea's friend Britney gushes.

"You saw his face?" I ask.

"No, but I could like, totally tell." Britney says. Nya comes along and hands Chelsea and Britney some ice cream cones, then starts eating one herself.

"Hey, guys, you missed all the action! He just jumped in, took care of business, and flew off! It was pretty cool." she says. She follows Britney and Chelsea to one of the roller coasters.

"You probably should wait a while before going on that ride!" I call after them.

"Who is this guy?" Kai demands.

"I don't know, but he's stealing our thunder!" Cole says.

"And we just got these cool new outfits!" Jay says. "I'm gonna say it: I hate Samurai!"

"Do I hear a hint of jealousy?" Sensei asks from behind us, causing us to jump. "Maybe this could be turned into a lesson for you all."

"Not another less- Hey, how'd you get here so fast?" Jay says.

"The lesson is this: iron sharpens iron." Sensei says.

"I do not follow, Sensei." Zane says.

"Maybe you can turn this into a competition for yourselves." Sensei says. He walks off for reasons unknown. Most likely to go on the Ferris wheel.

"Maybe he's right." Kai says. We all look at him. "We can turn this into a competition."

"But Samurai has all those fancy gadgets! We don't stand a chance!" Jay protests.

"Not against him! Against us!" Kai says. I nod.

"Whoever can find the identity of the Samurai will be the Green Ninja!" I say. "Great idea!"

~0~0~0~

I lie in wait above a gaggle of Serpentine, waiting for Samurai to show up. He comes down and takes care of business fast, but he has to get out of his robot to do so. When he does, I point a stun dart at a chink in his armor and he faints. I jump out of my tree and tie him to a tall rock.

"I've got you now, Samurai." I say aloud. I sit down and wait for him to wake up.

When he comes to, I point a knife at his throat. "If you move, I'll blind you." I threaten. I tug off his helmet, revealing a... girl! And not just any girl. It's Nya!

"Nya?" I say bewilderedly. She sighs.

"Yeah, it's me. That was a clever trick though, Jade." she says. "Using the blow dart. That was smart."

"Well, as they say, dumb blonde is only a stereotype." I say. I cut off her bindings. "What do you say we pretend to be frustrated at not finding out the Samurai's identity?" She grins.

"Sure thing."

~0~0~0~

"I swear, finding out who he is is more of a nuisance then the Samurai is himself!" Cole groans.

"Well, we still have a snake problem." I tell him, eager to change the subject. "Any news on that?"

"Hey, speaking of snakes, where are Lloyd and Sammy?" Jay asks.

"I have not seen them." Zane says.

"Oh my god, you lost them, didn't you?" I ask Kai.

"I thought Cole was gonna pick them up." Kai says.

"I went to the arcade, but they weren't there." Cole says.

"We should find them." Sensei suggests. The ninjas and I stand at the same time and run out the door. We change our Weapons into vehicles and go to the arcade where Lloyd and Sammy were supposed to be.

"They were here." Kai says.

"They couldn't have gotten far. Let's take a look." I say.

Cole soon finds a security camera, and we take a look at the footage. Lloyd and sammy go into a costume shop, then come out looking like a Serpentine. They go down an alleyway, and since the camera can't tell us what was down there, we decide to take a look ourselves.

The boys' footprints stop around the same time some tire tracks start. "Let this be an important lesson for you all." I say in my best Sensei Wu impersonation. "Never trust the man in the van."

"Who says it was a man?" Kai says.

"Who says it was a van?" Jay adds.

"Oh, shut up!" I tell them. I transform my knives into a helicopter and start following the tracks. I let the guys catch up, and we ride into the desert, straight to the Lost City of Ouroboros.

~0~0~0~

I stop near the edge of the city. I transform my helicopter into knives and sneak into the city, the guys in my wake.

"It appears Pythor has successfully united the Serpentine tribes." Zane whispers.

"I really don't want to know how. Hopefully, with Pythor as king, they've forgotten about making me queen. Remember that?" I say. Kai laughs quietly.

"Look, there's Lloyd and Sammy!" Cole says, pointing to a cage hung up nearby. I take out my knives and run out into the open, the boys trailing behind me. We don't make it far when a large cage like Lloyd's drops on us, separating us from our Weapons.

"Oh, fuck." we say simultaneously.

Minutes later, a bunch of snakes lead us into the arena.

"You say you wanted a fight?" Pythor shouts. "I give you- Ninja versus Samurai!" A gate opens at the other end of the arena, revealing Nya in her Samurai suit.

"Maybe we can get him on our side!" Jay says hopefully. "After all, we all hate snakes, right?" Nya throws a sort of shurikan/boomerang thing at us.

"Okay, maybe not." I say, still pretending I don't know the identity of Samurai. A fight ensues, but I can tell Nya's going easy. Still, I pretend to be stressed, cussing as often as I can. Most of the words are ones you wouldn't want to hear from a seventeen year old.

"Shall we try the Tornado of Creation?" Zane suggests.

"Let's." Jay agrees. I'm not quite sure how to describe the Tornado of Creation. I'll never be able to. So don't ask.

Anyway, we use the Tornado against Nya, and then things get serious in the Slitherpit. First comes the spikes. Then the tilting.

"Oh, come the fuck on!" I shout. I grab on to a spike so I don't fall into the dark pit under the tilt.

"Keep pretending to fight." Nya says in a deep voice that I know is a machine. "Keep up the charade."

"Oh, we're not really fighting?" Jay asks. Nya nods.

"Grab onto my exosuit." Nya says.

I grab onto a rocket booster at the back, next to Kai. Nya takes off, but there's too much weight with the six of us. She hops out, leaving us on the exosuit.

"I can't believe he just saved us!" Cole shouts.

"He stole our thunder again!" Kai shouts.

"I hate that Samurai!" Jay shouts.

"He just saved our lives!" I scold. The exosuit crash lands in the desert, sending all of us in different directions. I stand shakily and start going toward the exosuit.

Nya lands behind me, and I turn to face her. She hands me something wrapped in a red cloth like a Christmas present and takes off again, taking the exosuit with her.

I unwrap the cloth, revealing the Five Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu. They begin glowing under my touch, a soft green color. They swirl around me in the desert sun, and then fall back in my hands.

"Jaaaade!" Jay shouts behind me. I turn around to see him, Kai, Cole, and Zane running over the hill to find me. I chuckle slightly at their worried expressions and run up to greet them.

"Hey, guys, you missed all the action!" I say, quoting Nya from earlier. "He just jumped in, took care of business, and flew off. It was pretty cool."

"What business?" Kai asks. In answer, I unroll the red cloth, spreading the Golden Weapons on the ground. I pick up my Knives, careful not to touch the other Weapons.

"So why did he just hand them over to you?" Cole asks. I shrug.

"Maybe this Samurai isn't so bad after all."


	11. Chapter 11

Previously on We've Got Training To Do.

"Pythor has successfully united all the Serpentine tribes." Zane said solemnly.

"Why can't anyone fight fair?" Jay whined.

"He just saved our lives!" Jade scolded.

The Samurai landed in front of Jade and handed her a red package.

"Thanks, Nya." Jade said. After Samurai left, Jade unwrapped the package. Laid out on the ground, the Golden Weapons of Spinjitzu glowed green under her touch. She gasped and they swirled around her. "Oh, fuck." she said.

~0~0~0~

"Is he ever gonna come up?" I ask. Zane had been underwater for about ten minutes. I see a pale form swimming up through the water. It breaks the surface, and turns out to be Zane.

"Ten minutes and forty-seven seconds!" Cole shouts.

Zane climbs up the anchor chain and jumps on the deck of Destiny's Bounty. I high-five him.

"Are any of you thinking what I'm thinking?" Cole asks.

"Yeah! We've been training for so long, I don't think we can gt any better!" Jay says. "I mean, just look at the amazing stuff we've done!"

"I think we're ready." I agree. I follow the ninjas so we can go talk to Sensei Wu. He's been really distant lately. He apologizes for this, and then explains why.

"My mind has been elsewhere since Lloyd and Sammy went missing. Somehow... it feels like its all my fault. Now, what can I help you with?"

"Sensei, what if we've done enough training? What if we've found our full potential?" Cole asks. Sensei scoffs.

"You might have reached peak physical condition, but you have yet to unlock your inner potential. Inside each of you, there is something that blocks your full potential. You heart, not your muscles-" I really want to inform him that the heart is, in fact, a muscle, but I don't- "is the key to unlocking your full potential."

"I can understand that, but what I don't understand is how Lloyd and Sammy going missing would be your fault." I say.

"When I was young, Garmadon and I were more than brothers. We were the best of friends." Sensei begins.

"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait." Jay interrupts. "Garmadon, the embracer of evil, the doer of destruction, the king of chaos, you two were friends?"

"Don't interrupt." I scold him.

"One day, I lost one of our swords. Knowing our father would be mad, he told me to go get it. But I refused. He told me not to put off what could be done today and went to retrieve it himself." Sensei pauses before continuing. "When our father found him, he was very ill. He had been bitten by a legendary snake: the Great Devourer."

"So, the same snake the Serpentine want to release is the same one that turned your brother into the Dark Lord?" Kai asks.

"It was my fault." Sensei says.

"There was nothing you could have done." I say. "And before you say you could've gotten the sword yourself, just think about this: If you had gotten the sword, you would've been bitten. And Sensei Garmadon doesn't have as good of a ring as Sensei Wu." He smiles.

"Now, there is a journey I must take. I need to find someone who can be of aid." Sensei says. I nod.

"I think I know where you're going." I say. "Say hi to my grandmother for me." He jumps slightly.

"How did you know?" he asks. I smile.

"I have my ways."

~0~0~0~

"Okay, Zane, you see the Falcon too, right?" I ask, pointing at the bird.

"I see it." he confirms.

"You know, that bird always leads us to something awesome." I say.

"Should we follow it?" Zane suggests.

"Let's." I agree. I run after the bird, afraid to scare it away with my helicopter. The others run behind us.

~0~0~0~

Gosh darn, that bird flies fast! We've been going after it for hours. Jay and Cole are already out of it. And I think Kai is getting really tired of that stupid bird.

"Why don't you guys go on ahead?" he says. "I'll wait for the others."

"Kai, are you sure?" I ask him.

"Yes, I'm sure. I honestly can't take another minute of running." he says. I kiss him quickly and run after Zane.

"Whoa! What the hell?!" I shout upon seeing the large broken robot. Zane stares wide-eyed at it. "Zane, did you beat that thing on your own?"

"Yes. And I fear there are others." he replies. "Come on, Jade. We should take cover." He presses a knot on a nearby tree and a door opens.

"How'd you-" I start, then I close my mouth. This is Zane, after all.

We slip through the door, into what looks like a workshop. The Falcon flies above our heads, and I instinctively pull my hood on. You never know what birds may drop.

"Jade, look. There are blueprints on the desk." Zane says.

"Zane, I don't know... This could be someone's home." I say. But he runs down the roughly-carved stairs anyway. I run after him.

Zane stops in front of the desk. He picks up a large piece of paper with a sketch of the Falcon on it. "So it's a robot." he whispers. He looks up at the bird.

"You lead us here. But why?" he calls.

"Zane, you're talking to a robotic bird. That's the first sign of insanity." I tell him. I spot a piece of blue paper peeking out from under the others. I pull it out and gasp. "Zane..." I whisper.

"What is it, Jade?" he asks. In answer, I hand him the blueprint. "It can't be..." he whispers. He drops it and collapses.

"Zane. Zane!" I shout. I run back up the stairs and out of the tree - right into Cole.

"Whoa, what's the matter, Jade?" he asks.

"It- it's Zane." I stammer. "He's hurt, or something." I grab Kai's hand and drag him into the tree. Jay and Cole follow us down the stairs.

"Zane!" Cole shouts. He sees the blueprint on the desk. "Oh..."

Oh, yeah, I forgot to tell you what is on the blueprint. It's a design for a humanoid robot... for Zane.

~0~0~0~

"Zane?" I say as he sits up. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Jade." he says.

"You sure? 'Cuz last time I checked, robots aren't supposed to black out." I say.

''Leave it, Jade.'' Kai says.

''You know, I think we should leave him alone.'' Jay says quietly.

''Yeah, I'm sure he's overwhelmed right now.'' Cole says.

'Yeah, sure, leave an overwhelmed robot alone,' I think. But I don't say this out loud.

I follow my friends up the stairs, then look back at my best friend in the world. Zane had always been there for me, so I should at least be there for him, even if it is just this once.

I look up at the ninjas. "You guys go on ahead, I'll catch up." I tell them.

"Okay." Jay says. He leaves, but Kai and Cole stay.

"Seriously, guys, go." I say. Kai shoots me a doubtful look, but they both leave.

"You can go too, Jade." Zane says.

"Zane, I'm not going anywhere." I say, sitting down next to him. "Is there something you want to talk about?"

"Well... I found out why I never had a sense of humor." he says. He finds a latch or something and then just opens his chest like a door.

"Holy shit!" I shout, jumping about ten feet in the air and landing at the top of the stairs. "How the hell -"

"There's no need to cuss, Jade." Zane says calmly. "The reason I never had a sense of humor was because my humor function was never turned on." He flips a switch and then starts singing and tap dancing.

"Zane, turn it off." I say, but he doesn't seem to hear me. "Zane - So help me, I will -" But he just keeps on singing and dancing. So I jump down, hold him still, and turn off the funny switch myself.

"I don't know what it is, but somehow, being a robot -" Zane starts.

"Zane, you're still the same no matter what you're made of." I say firmly. "No matter how many switches you've got in there, you're still my brother. And how awesome is it that I can honestly say, 'Hey, my brother is a Nindroid!'"

"A Nindroid?" Zane says.

"Well, it was what was on top of the blueprint, so I assumed that's what you were supposed to be called." I explain.

"Blueprints..." Zane whispers. He picks up the blueprint off the table and looks at it. "Jade, look. I have a memory switch."

"Zane, do you think it's really a good idea to -"

"Jade, you should go ahead. I'll catch up." he says.

I hesitate. "Okay. I'll see you soon." I run back up the stairs, into chaos.

Things that I can only assume are Treehorns attack my friends. There are, like, twenty of them! I run to help the Ninjas.

A Treehorn attacks me immediately, using its superior size and strength in its own favor. "Oh, fuck!" I shout, struggling to get free.

"Leave my friends alone!" I hear Zane shout. "Ninja, go!" His icy blue tornado cuts through the Treehorns' ranks.

"What's gotten into him?" I ask no one in particular.

"I don't know, but I like it!" Kai says.

"NINJA, GO!" we all shout. We spin into our multicolored tornadoes. For me, it's the first time since Ouroboros, and I'm surprised to see a greenish tint to my usually bronze tornado. My own personal fear of power wrenches at my heart like someone is squeezing it in their fist.

The Treehorns seem to retreat. They go around the edges of the trees. "Are they... regrouping?" Cole asks.

"I don't know." I say slowly.

The ground starts to shake, as if something massive is walking slowly toward us. Something big and REALLY ugly emerges from the trees.

"What is that?!" Jay shouts.

"Their queen." Zane says solemnly.

We all back up a few paces, except for Zane. "You will not hurt my friends!" he shouts at the Treehorn Queen. Zane begins to rise in a beam of icy blue light. "Nothing can hold me back. I know who I am."

"Is he programmed to do that?" Jay asks.

"I definitely have never seen a robot do that." Cole says.

"You mean a Nindroid." I correct.

"A what?" Kai asks.

"That's what was on the blueprint." I explain. "But I think Zane's unlocked his full potential!"

Zane shoots ice at the Treehorn Queen, freezing her into a statue. The rest of the Treehorns retreat into the forest. Zane floats down like a snowflake.

"Oh. My god. That was so cool!" Jay shouts.

"We have our very own Nindroid!" Cole shouts.

"Look out Pythor, we are locked and loaded!" I shout.

"Yeah!" the Ninjas shout together.

~0~0~0~

"Where are the five Fang Bladesss, Pythor?" the General of the Fangpyres asks. Dream me jumps down silently and unobserved.

"There isss no map." says the General of the Venomari.

"I know, I KNOW!" Pythor shouts. "I just don't know where to look!"

"Then I'm taking my staff back." the Fangpyre says.

"Me too." the Venomari says. They pick up their staffs.

"Me three." the Constrictai General says. He accidentally hits the Venomari on the head with his staff, and they begin fighting. The anti-venom from their staffs mix together into a red substance.

Pythor pushes through them to see the anti-venom. "That's it!" he shouts. "When the five Fangs unite as one, the path to unleash the Devourer has begun! It doesn't mean the tribes, it means the venom in the staffs!" He collects the five staffs and puts them in a circle. The antivenom leaks out onto a sheet of paper that Pythor put under them. Symbols draw themselves on the paper. I go even closer to see it.

"Behold!" Pythor shouts. "The locations of the five Fang Blades!"

~0~0~0~

I sit up straight in bed and run over to the desk. I get out some paper and a pencil, turn on the lamp, and begin drawing.

"Jade?" Nya mumbles sleepily. "What's going on?"

"I had a dream about the Serpentine again." I say excitedly. "Pythor has a map of the five Fang Blades. I saw it! I know where they are!"

"Jade, it was just a dream. Go back to bed." Nya says, putting a pillow over her head.

"Nya, it wasn't just a dream. I really do know where the five Fang Blades are." I argue. My pencil stops moving. I stare at my finished work with a smile on my face. "I have a map right here."


	12. Chapter 12

Previously on We've Got Training To Do:

"Okay, you see the Falcon too, right?" Jade asked Zane.

Zane rose in a beam of blue light.

"Is he programmed to do that?" Cole asked.

"Look out Pythor, we are locked and loaded!" Jade shouted.

"Behold, the location of the five Silver Fang Blades!" Pythor shouted.

"I know where the Fang Blades are." Jade said, holding up a map she had just drawn.

~0~0~0~

Something is very wrong.

I inhale deeply through the nose and realize the problem. "All right, who got into my perfume?" I ask. Kai, Cole, and Zane burst out laughing.

"Perfume? You told me it was men's cologne!" Jay says.

"I get them mixed up." Kai says. Zane and Cole laugh.

"Not funny, guys. That perfume was really expensive." I say.

The Serpentine alarm blares. "Looks like it's time to stomp some snakes." Cole says.

"Before they find any Fang Blades." Zane adds. I open my mouth to tell them about my map, then close it again. Serpentine first, map second.

The guys and I run out. "Jay, are you coming?" I shout over my shoulder.

"Yeah, just a second!" he shouts. A couple minutes later, he runs out.

"Okay, can you take a shower please?! It's really weird when one of your friends smells like you on date night." I beg.

"Come on!" Cole shouts. I roll my eyes and change my Golden Weapons into a helicopter.

~0~0~0~

I stand with Cole, Kai, and Zane near the Ghost Train ride. "Where is everyone?" Cole wonders aloud. A group of people run out screaming.

"That ride was never scary before." Kai says.

"Venomari, do you think?" Zane asks.

"I'll go check." I say. I run into the exit of the ride. Almost immediately I find Pythor, Skales, and a shit-ton of other Serpentine. And they already found the Fang Blade!

"You know," I say casually, leaning against a support beam, "this ride is a lot uglier with you all in it." They turn around.

"It'sss the Bronzsse Ninja!" Skales says. "Get her!" I jump up, dodging a bunch of snakes and causing them to crash into one another. I do an unnecessary somersault in midair, snatching the Fang Blade from Pythor's uplifted hand.

"I'll take that, thank you very much." I say as I land. Kai, Cole, and Zane run in.

"Are you okay, Jade?" Kai asks.

"Fine, thank you." I say. "I got the Fang Blade."

"I see that." he says.

"We should go find Jay and Nya." I suggest.

"Not with the Fang Blade, you're not!" Pythor shouts. "You stole that from me, and I would like it back!"

The Serpentine attack, and the fight goes on until Zane triggers his full-potential powers.

Yeah, that didn't go so well.

All three of them end up trapped in a block of ice. Luckily, I was fighting away from them at this time. "You fail, Zane." I tell him. I shove the Fang Blade in my belt and run out of the ride, the Serpentine right behind me.

A strong magnetic pulse wrenches the Blade from my hand, and into - Nya's! Well, technically, Samurai's. I wink at her as she starts running.

"Stop him!" Pythor shouts. The Serpentine run after her, and I jump-start my tornado. The green tint is still there. I spin into Pythor, and he manages to bite my hand.

"Ow!" I shout instinctively. I take off my black glove to examine the bite. Two little punctures that are quickly turning purple. Almost immediately, my head explodes in pain. I know I sound insane when I say this, but they're voices. As if I can hear people's thoughts. I squeeze my eyes shut and try to block out the pain, to no avail. It's as if I'm in a football stadium packed to full capacity with fans shouting their conversations at the top of their lungs.

Then, the voices slowly fade away. I can pick out individual voices now. Then it goes out entirely. My eyes open, and I see the Ninjas - except Jay - standing over me. My hand isn't purple anymore, but the two pinpricks are still there.

"Are you okay, Jade?" Kai asks.

"I'm fine." I say. I stand up. "Where's Jay?"

"We haven't found him." Cole says.

"Well, let's go!" I say. "Come on!" 'I wonder if I can find someone with their thoughts,' I think. I concentrate, and Jay's voice stands out clearly. I begin running toward the roller coaster.

"Jade? Where are you going?" Kai shouts. I keep running until I get to the roller coaster. I see Jay - well, not quite Jay. He's glowing, for one thing, and for another - hey, the glowing says it all. He must have unlocked his full potential.

~0~0~0~

"You certainly had me fooled. I never would have guessed you were the Samurai." Zane says.

"I wish I had a sister as cool as you." Cole says.

"Back off." Kai and Jay say simultaneously.

"Technically, I was the one who discovered it first." I say.

"I guess there's no denying it: you're going to be the Green Ninja." Kai says.

"What makes you say that?" I ask.

"We agreed whoever found out the identity of the Samurai would be the Green Ninja, remember?" Kai says.

"And you would look great in that color." Jay adds.

"I really don't think I'm ready for that kind of responsibility and power." I say.

"You know what I learned today?" Jay says. "No matter what your secret is, whether you're a snake or a Samurai, it's important to be yourself."

"Yeah, that's cute. You wanna know what I learned?'' Cole says. "Pythor has the first Fang Blade. He's one step closer to unleashing the Great Devourer."

"But we're getting stronger." Zane says. "And soon, we will all reach our full potentials."

"And we learned all this without Sensei." Jay says. "Not bad for five Ninjas and a Samurai."

"This may be a good time to say that I have a map." I say.

"Of what?" Kai asks.

"Of the Five Fang Blades." I say.

"Why didn't you tell us?!" Jay shouts.

"I tried, I just never got the chance." I say, grinning.

"Well then, we are one step closer to stopping Pythor from unleashing the Great Devourer." Cole says.


End file.
